A Return to Indonesian Horror: The Queen of Black Magic

A few weeks back, I watched and reviewed an Indonesian horror film titled "Impetigore". From that viewing, I cited an overall recommendation to reach for more foreign horror films since they can provide stories/folklore that are new to us American fans and are not susceptible to the common taboos of American culture, thus providing newer cinematic experiences. In the spirit of that recommendation, I went back to the foreign depths of my Shudder app to find another interesting sounding horror film and, lo and behold, I found myself back in Indonesia.

After learning that the headmaster of his childhood orphanage has fallen deathly ill, a father takes his wife and three children to stay at the orphanage and learn about his upbringing. His two "brothers", who were also raised in the orphanage, arrive with their wives as well to pay their respects to the headmaster's final days. While there, the families learn of a dark spot on the three men and headmaster's past involving a former caretaker who was accused of heinous acts against the children. In the midst of these revelations, there is something haunting the orphanage and is possessing those there to experience and engage in terrifying acts. The movie is a bit of a whodunit, regarding the source of this darkness, and the answer is hidden in the true story of what happened all those years ago.

Let's first touch on a few places where this movie really shines, beginning with the atmosphere and setting. The movie had the advantage of being set in one of the naturally creepy locations, an old orphanage. Up there with cornfields, psychiatric hospitals, and the woods, a director would have to work at messing up the grim tone, of which director Kimo Stamboel did not. Lots of darkness and camera shots that exuded emptiness helped propel the uneasy feeling throughout the film. Also, the simple fact of being at an orphanage with only a few children present throughout the entire film presented an oddity that perpetuated the feeling of something being wrong. The movie also does not hold back with graphic images of hurt and dead children, which is something is a bit taboo for most American horror films, lending to a greater shock level than I am used to.

The main story of the dark happenings revolves around the mysterious disappearance of a young girl who lived at the orphanage (Murni) and the assumed involvement of a caretaker that worked at the orphanage (Ms. Mirah), who was believed to have practiced black magic. The way the movie presented the slowly revealed truth of what happened I thought was done well, with each telling of the story revealing a new/altered detail to the way it was told prior. I thought the most interesting portion of the movie was the other characters we were introduced to who worked at the orphanage. Their oddities helped maintain the question of who was at fault, with all of them seeming to be guilty of hiding something.

Unfortunately, these highlights are almost always overshadowed by the reliance on gore and disgust-based horror tactics. A rainstorm of bugs coming out of orifices, body mutilation, and an ending that rivaled the worst attempt at an homage to Saw/Hellraiser. These shocks failed to do just that, shock, and felt like abrupt stops in the story that didn't always land. The pace of the movie, especially the opening acts, all served to present this slow burn mystery of why the place and people are being haunted, but the inclusion of these tactics almost felt like a different movie. It's not that it was all bad, as the body mutilation of one character who was obsessed with her appearance was a strong plot point. The problem is that for many of these characters, their developments stops when being used for a potential shock, leaving nothing more than apathy for this abundance of scenes. The director seemingly could not decide what kind of movie he wanted this to be.

The setting and the pacing would've been better served by remaining a character-driven horror tale that maintained the ghost stories of the orphanage and the uneasy feelings, and even some of the dark happenings of the possessions. There was enough horror being driven by the unknown of the happenings, the mystery of what happened at the orphanage to Murni and Mirah, and the shock of what happened to the other kids from the orphanage to propel the movie forward. Ultimately, though, this was another foreign horror film that I enjoyed more than most of the American offerings we've received over the past few years and definitely recommend a viewing. Though, after seeing this and the previously reviewed Indonesian offering, "Impetigore", I have to question the ability of these directors to effectively close their films.

---

RATING: 👸🏻 👸🏻 👸🏻 / 5